Kristine and Joshua Rau
lost their lives in the early morning hours of February 6, 2005 under
unbelievable circumstances at Paul Smith's College in up-state New York.
Our collective family grief was greatly magnified when the
New York State Police informed us that this tragedy did not need to happen.
Since then, we strived to have lessens learned from
Kristine's tragedy produce some overall good by increasing awareness
about the prevailing alcohol culture on the nations' campuses and
taking action as detailed in the links in the above headings.
As of the summer of 2010, two of the major initiatives
coming to their inevitable conclusion. The
end results of the efforts have proven most disappointing and
unfortunately, largely unproductive. Most distressing is the often
confronting the reality that despite small pockets of concerned individuals, most in our society just do not care.
Especially hurtful is when the term "collateral damage" is used in
reference to lost souls such as Kristine and Joshua. This implies
that they and
many
others are viewed as an unfortunate cost of maintaining the right of
passage as a college tradition that many seem to hold dear. The
tragedy is a loss of many of our best and brightest.